Served Cold
by Two-Socks
Summary: On this Night of the Red Rose (the equivalent of St. Valentine's Day), Salvanas (of Copper Coronet fame) tries to get a date. My first Baldur's Gate story about my Kensai/Mage, Jehaine and her friends.


Author's Note:  Please offer critique.  There are some parts I'm still not happy with, but I will wait to see what you say before making any changes below.  J  Thank you for your time!

"Served Cold"

            Soft twilight, after the sun had set, disappeared quickly for hardened grimy night.  Lank rags on thin bodies swayed from tired women who offered themselves to the few who passed by.  I wondered as I watched them, whether they were looking for coin or looking for warmth.  Which was more important?  When the cold winds from the Dale up North eventually reached us in Amn in the south, perhaps they looked for both.    

            Anomen had left us some time ago.  His bitterness over the Test consumed him like a festering wound, gathering hate-filled poison when left untreated.  I was no healer though, despite my Bhaalspawn gifts, and even Jaheira and Aerie did not know what could heal his mind.  The knights were right to deny him.  All I expected was action to be taken on Saerk alone and perhaps a new beginning with his father.  I wanted to help find justice for his sister since I had yet to find my own for Imoen.  Then, he killed without mercy, an innocent girl.    

_What are you saying?  You..you have abandoned me, Jehaine! _

   

I let him go.  Still, one month after his departure, my own conscience carried the heavy burden of guilt and regret.  If he had never met me, perhaps he would have become the knight he wanted to be.  Chaos and murder left in my wake, indeed.

            Aerie had also lost Haer'Dalis, the silver-tongued actor.  The fickle tiefling just left one day, leaving only a small note explaining his absence.  "You knew this would come at an end," he wrote, "all things must as they should and this sparrow cannot give what you ask for.  It saddens this bard to leave you now, but eventually your love for me, too, will end.  That is the way it shall and should be, my mourning dove."  She would not speak after that for many days.

            So all of us were alone without men in our lives, with the exception, of course, for Minsc.  The great Rasheman ranger never would dote on anyone more devotedly than his little pet hamster.    He had gone off with Boo perched on his shoulder to meditate more on his dejemma training.

The pain of the break-up and loss was new and filled our hearts.  Jaheira and Mazzy had also lost their loved ones not too long ago.  Although they tried to hide it, their hearts sometimes filled, too.  They had a distant, faraway smile as if remembering and then a painful twinge would cross their face as the present met up with the past.  They joined us at our table, not wanting to be alone on this Night of the Red Rose, where lovers renewed their vows of devotion to each other.  We dulled our memories with the finest of what the cellars of the Copper Coronet had to offer.  I hoped that even then, the morning after, our headaches would be too overwhelming to remember a hint of what had caused us to drink bottles of cheap alcohol.

            We were together now, a group of women who through their broken hearts felt sisterhood.  I thought so, anyway.  I remembered my other sister, Imoen, whose light heart and laughter lifted my spirits when they were as low as they were tonight.  Where was she now?  Only the Shadow Thieves had that answer, apparently.  I counted the coins in my purse everyday.  Soon, little sister, soon.

            "Don't look now," said Mazzy in a soft voice, "but you know who is coming this way."  Aerie gulped nervously, twirling her wine glass.  A dark scowl formed on Jaheira's face.

            "What?" I said as I waved my hand to dry the last words in my journal.  When I looked behind me, I groaned and glanced around for Minsc.  Unfortunately, he was still conspicuously absent.  Where was a hero of butt-kicking when you needed him? 

            "Oh, great Goddess of Fortune and Goddess of Love, surely you have both smiled upon me this day!  Here I see a bevy of beauteous maids who are apparently without the benefit of a dashing, handsome suitor to buy them drinks?"

            "That's because we wish to buy our own drinks, fool," Jaheira growled.  "so I suggest you review your prayers with the Goddesses of Back Off and Get Lost."

            "You wound me, my honey-colored goddess, " said Salvanas, holding a hand over his heart.  "I only wish to be near the blinding light of your beauty, ALL of your beauty."  He made a grand sweeping gesture toward the rest of us, halting briefly to offer Aerie a suggestive leer.  Mazzy glared at him, fingering Avoreen's bow.   I noticed Aerie taking a rather large gulp of her wine, shivering a little.  Concerned, I slid my chair more towards her side, watching.

            "Ah, my little chestnut, I see you staring at my form.  Does it please you?  Does your heart pound with desire?  I see your eyes darkening with lust, my darling."

            "What are you babbling about, you foolish elf?  If you wish to see something darken, I can happily comply with a bruise to your head!"  Mazzy held up her own mug threateningly.  

            "Alas, this poor elf cannot hope to capture your hearts, no matter how many times he has tried and on Red Rose Night, too!  He must strive alone, unwanted and unloved.  I shall jump off the highest bridge in the Bridge District and end my poor sad and lonely existence altogether.  Farewell my goddesses!"  He turned away, dragging his feet with very slow steps.

            "W-wait!" said Aerie and all of us jumped in surprise.  

Salvanas stopped.  He grinned at the floor.  He hoped she would respond, that golden-haired lovely with a soft heart…mmm, and probably softer body.   Resuming his forlorn expression, he turned around with sad puppy-dog eyes.  Ah, yes, Salvanas, your best performance, yet.  You've come to the Copper Coronet as a boy, but after you pluck this innocent flower, you'll return home to Suldenesslar as a man.

            "P-please don't go," said Aerie.  "I wish you to stay."  

            "You do?" all of us said incredulously.  Nearby, Salvanas preened with pride.

            "You have saved me from certain death, my lovely!  My heart sings in joy that you wish me to stay, but uh…" he saw all of us moving our seats closer to Aerie, leaving no room for him to sit or come nearby.  "perhaps, I can talk to you in a more private area?"

            "Y-yes.  Jehaine, the room key?"  Salvanas's lustful grin stretched from ear to pointy ear.

            "Uh, Aerie, are you sure about this?  Whatever's wrong we can talk," said Mazzy.

            "N-n-nothing's w-w-rong, I am just going to..*hic*...t-talk with Salvanas."  She stood up hastily from her chair and swooned back down again, "Ohhhh!"  

            I caught her quickly before she knocked herself senseless on the back of the chair, I saw Salvanas approach but I glared at him frostily, daring him to move any closer.  Wisely, he stepped back, …then winked at me.  I rolled my eyes and looked at my apparently drunken companion.

            "Aerie, " I whispered in her ear, "how many glasses of elven wine did you have?  If it's about Haer'Dalis, we can all go to my room and talk.  It's been a few weeks and you've still not over him…"

            "NO!" 

 Her shrill scream echoed throughout the common room, stunning the normally rowdy Copper Coronet into surprised silence.  "I'm a big girl," announced Aerie to the suddenly attentive audience, "I can take care of myself.  I don't need you or anyone!  Just…Just leave me alone!  Just…give… me… the… DAMN… key!"

            "Oh, alright, Aerie.  Here."  Reluctantly, I handed her the iron key.

"Think, child, of what you're doing," whispered Jaheria into her other ear, "you're obviously not well, and I know what it is to lose someone-"

"Shut up, Jaheira!  Just all of you, go away.  I want to be alone with Salvanas!"

All three of us exchanged looks of worry and concern as Aerie unsteadily got to her feet again.  Jaheira and I assisted when we could, although Aerie roughly shoved us away.  Soon, Salvanas was there to take her from us, murmuring more romantic drivel into her ear while Aerie leaned on him for support, eyes staring straight ahead.  Before they went up the stairs, he passed all of us a look of triumph and carried Aerie to our suite of rooms.  I could hear them enter her room with a soft, firm click of a door being shut and locked.  I took a large gulp from my own ale, wondering if I had made a mistake.

            A few hours later, as we thought about going upstairs to check if everything was alright, I heard a piercing shriek followed by a mournful wail.  "You w-wretch, y-you…you…d-demon, what have you done to me?!" cried out a high-pitched voice.  Instantly, I jumped up but Mazzy, although small with even smaller legs, was already at the foot of the stairs with sword out, climbing them with haste.  Jaheira and I followed, not far behind.

            The door opened before any of us arrived there.  We paused.  Then, Aerie stepped out, the corners of her mouth twitching in an unusual way, her eyes shining in the dimly lit hallway.  "Aerie?  Is everything alright?" I ventured.

            "Oh, everything is just fine, (tee hee hee!).  I-I- (giggle) I'M fine.  I think Salvanas is fine, too."  Tears were streaming down her face now, interjected with hiccoughs and chuckles.  She held her sides, shaking with suppressed laughter.  The door was open slightly.  Curious, I looked in.

            There, on her bed, was a weeping woman, dressed in a male elf's tunic and trousers that were clearly too big for her now.  Lustrous strawberry gold curls spilled down her back.  The loose tunic was shifted to the side to show a pale alabaster shoulder and the curve of a voluptuous breast.    

Aerie followed us in, calmer, but at the same time trying to retain self-control by taking deep breaths mixed with tiny bursts of barely concealed giggles.  She hid her failing composure by rummaging through her closet with shaking hands.  "Here, *mmphthttt*… Silvana, I think you can fit into this quite nicely."  She held up a red mage robe that looked all too familiar, low cut, slit up the side, and embroidered with gold around the hem.  

            The woman looked up, then.  For a while, no further sound came from her because she was staring at it in open horror, mouth gaped open. She gazed on the red dress, her lower lip trembling, emerald green eyes growing wider as they traveled up and down the risqué garment.  Finally, she threw back her head and howled, "NNoooOOOOooOOOO!"   

            "Oh child," marveled Jaheira, "this is bad… this is, of course, unnatural."  She smiled a sly grin, "However, I must say it is a definite improvement."  

"I won't wear it.  I refuse to!  I-I-'ll get all of you for this!  I swear to it!  I'll …I'll," Silvana choked back a sob, her face falling into her delicate hands.

"Nonsense," said Mazzy, her eyes glinting merrily, "I think red complements your hair and eyes.  You can't go around in those current clothes.  It'd be too indecent."

            "I-Indecent!  How is t-that much better?!"  

            "Your bosom is spilling out of your tunic for one," said Mazzy matter-of-factly, "and your trousers might drop at the most inopportune time to the floor.  You might draw interest that you may not want, desire, or wish for.  I believe you are familiar with what sort of interest I mean."  She arched an eyebrow at Silvana.   

            The woman only took one more look at the dress and shuddered.

            She did not wear the red mage robe.  Thayvian mage attire is not allowed to be worn by outsiders on pain of mutilating death.  We couldn't be that cruel.  We eventually settled on a simple brown wool tunic dress, one of Jaheria's old dresses.  At least it covered what counted most, until Silvana became used to her new form.

            Aerie never was drunk on that night.  From her time with Haer'Dalis, she really did learn a thing or two about play-acting.  She had obtained the faulty Nether Scroll from Edwin, who was suspicious at first, but once he learned of her plan he gladly gave it freely.  Obviously, he still remembered Salvanas's amorous advances from his time as Edwina.  As a bonus, he gave the robe, too.  

            "Aerie," I laughed, "you are full of surprises!  You had us all fooled!"

            She blushed.  "I-I was scared the whole time.  I had to drink a little to give me the courage to go through it at all, but not enough to ruin the whole play."  She became quiet.  Softer, she said, "I-I-think Haer'Dalis would have been proud."

            I did not know what to say.  I simply looked at her helplessly.  Silence passed between us awhile before she spoke again, "I know he's not coming back.  I-I-sort of wish that he did, only so that I could've turned the spell on HIM.  Then…Then, he would beg for my forgiveness and I-I would say no…and…and…"  Her body trembled, tears spilling from her clear blue eyes.  

            "Shhh, it's alright," I said, pulling her to the warmth of my embrace.  Aerie cried into my shoulder.  "It's alright, little sister," I whispered.   

            Indeed, Salvanas never bothered us again.  However, the woman known as Silvana eventually became the most popular tavern wench in the Copper Coronet.  Evidently, the shameless pick up lines and failed flirtations that never worked on women fared far better when directed toward men.   


End file.
